Sakura Speaks
by Kimerald
Summary: [AU] Based on the story Speak. Sakura Haruno is about to enter high school in the worst possible way. What everybody doesn't know is her secret. With school, exfriends, and crushes, will she be able to stay silent? [NaruxSaku] [SasuxSaku: Past]
1. Enter: Haruno Sakura

**Hey! This is my first fanfic-story.**

**I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**This story is based on **_**Speak**_** by Laurie Halse Anderson.**

**I don't copy anything directly in the book. I use my own words.**

**And there will be twists. A LOT of twists. Don't forget**

**- Cherry-Kate**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or **_**Speak**_**. I wish I did, but no.**

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_Ugly._

I look at the mirror, and this is what I see: an ugly girl who's lost in her own, agonizing world. What I need was a change. Before, I looked like a pretty, simple girl who had a life and great friends. I was perfect. But now, everything about me is messed up and shattered right before my eyes. This was not my style anymore. This was not me.

There were handicraft scissors on my side desk. I stared blankly at them. _Should I cut it off? _I asked myself. My hand hesitated to grab them. Then, IT pops up in my mind. IT looks at me inside the mirror. I took the scissors and clenched them in my fists.

Snip. Snip. Snip.

Pink shreds of hair fell to the carpet. I stare at myself in the mirror. Do I look as pretty as before? My hair length was up to the middle of my neck. My forehead's still wide. My lips are chapped and bitten. The only thing that stood out were my emerald eyes. The door opened as mother's face popped out. She looked at me in disgust and suspicion. I look back at her in the mirror.

"I don't even want to know about it," She started, "Dinner's in the fridge. There's a list of chores on the counter. Father lost his job, and I'm going through therapy."

I watched her as she left. Mother just showed me how pathetic I look to the world. I stared impassively at the mirror, still holding the pair of scissors. She doesn't know. She doesn't need to know. My lips were scabby and atrocious. They don't need to speak.

I gently cut a straight line through my lips with the scissors' blade. Crimson colors escaped my lip as my mouth sucked up the liquid. I didn't wince in pain. I kept still and quiet, as I should be. This was a symbol of silence. I vowed not to speak the truth, not to retell that day, and not to relive it.

This is how I'll live.

**FIRST MARKING PERIOD**

WELCOME TO KONOHA HIGH SCHOOL

It's the first morning of high school and it _had_ to rain. I go outside without an umbrella. Rain pours through my unsightly, pastel hair. I'm about to enter high school in pink, as always. _Boring_. I hate pink. The color blinds my eyes which is unfortunate since I have pink hair, but I keep silent and live.

A murky, yellow bus slowly stops in front of my house. The door opens in front of me, making a squeak noise as I enter. The seats were a dirty, dark gray. Where do I sit? If I sit in the front, people would notice me right away, give a glare, and stomp to their seat. Sitting in the back wasn't the best idea either. That's the jocks' and populars' designated hangout. I figured that it was best to sit somewhere in the middle, hidden in a corner. I took a seat with an open window as the bus driver drove off my curb.

The bus picks up more students, mostly in groups of three to four. I look at the foggy window and see the reflection of my emerald eyes as I watch a group of friends hop on the bus. Here come the _memories_. People from my middle school stared at me and gossiped. _Why?_ I ask myself. They don't understand. They wont understand. They can't.

At the second to the last stop, a girl with bright, red hair and round-shaped glasses stepped on the bus. She looked new, weird, and perky. The girl happily headed my way. Please don't sit next to me. Please don't sit next to me.

She sat next to me.

"Hey! I'm Karin, Just Karin." The girl said giddily.

I don't reply.

"What's the neighborhood like? My family just moved here in this area." She started telling me. "Over the summer, I got to visit tons of stores. The mall is huge here! It's different from our state, see…"

The rest of the drive, she kept talking to me about her favorite stores, restaurants, and areas in our location. _Annoying_. A couple of times, I nodded, but I was silent for the most part. I noticed a deceitful tone behind her cheery voice, but I kept quiet about it.

The bus made a cranking noise as we stop in front of the school building. I noticed it stopped raining when I saw the older students wandering around the courtyard. 9th graders had a 'welcoming' assembly to go to. As we got out of the bus, we went towards our destinations. I watched Karin ran out in anticipation and excitement. She was weird for a girl, not like most newcomers.

Some guy from the yearbook club ran up to me and snapped a picture. His short, brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and his face looked as bored as ever. My eyes blurred. Blink. Blink. I could tell that the picture will turn out horrible.

"What's your name?" The nerdy-looking boy asked taking out his notebook. 'Shikamaru' was written on his nametag.

I was too startled to reply. He looked up at me impatiently, as he repeatedly tapped his pen on his small notepad.

"Are you deaf? Troublesome. What's your name?" He, in a way, yelled at my face.

"U-Uh…Haruno, Sakura."

About ten people surrounding me looked up then turned to their friends. You could hear their laughs, their insults, their gossip. I didn't need this. I quickly trot towards the school's side entrance to avoid the people who noticed me.

We were divided into our cliques: Jocks, Cheerleaders, Goth, Konoha Savers, Preps, Prep-wannabes, Idiotic Lifeless, Hopeless Romantics, Pen-club, The Advanced, Visioning Artists, and Troublesome. I was held 'clique-less'. I guess I wasted my summer shredding health magazines, watching _House_, and listening to the crappiest radio station. Not once did I go to the mall, the pool, or to any fitness center. I entered high school in the worst possible way. My navy-blue stockings clashed my hideous, pink skirt. My repulsive, pastel-pink hair is messed and uncombed. My forehead takes up too much space on my face. I am the definition of imperfection.

I am an outcast.

It wasn't like this before. With my ex-friends, we formed a clique called the Kunoichi. It's too late now, for our clique has been torn to pieces and bits while being swept away by the other cults. TenTen, the tomboy in our group, hung around with the jocks and joined the girls' basketball team. Hinata, the shy girl, got stuck in the middle with the Visioning Artists and the Hopeless Romantics. She had just about the right personality to float between the two. There was another girl who moved to a different state. It wasn't such a deal. She wasn't such a big existence in our group.

A group of kids behind me talk so loud I know they're talking about me. Amongst them was a familiar face. Her blonde hair wasn't hard to notice, but her clothes had struck me. Ino Yamanaka, my ex-best friend, sat behind me and gave a devious look as she laughed with her preppy, stuck-up friends. This was the girl who stood beside me when I felt down, braided my hair, and told me that I was pretty enough for any boy out there in the world. Where was she now?

Ino stood up and walked closer my way. Words got swallowed up. I was afraid of her. I'm weak and brittle. She stood behind me and got close to my ear. She breathes out while I shiver.

"I hate you."

She sits back down and gossips with her friends. I chew on my lip, adding more scabs. I will not even think about it. It's horrible, but I'll forget about it. All I need is time and patience. My eyes were forced to wander in different directions to prevent tears. I sat down in the corner near the garbage cans. A sophomore with a bowl shaped haircut and shocking, furry brows sat next to me. He turned and winked. _Bastard_. I thought.

"Sit!" The loudspeaker booms. A tall man with a dolphin-looking nose stood before us. He introduced himself in front of everyone. Who cares? It's not like he's going to have all 799 students. I check my schedule that was crimpled in my pocket. Unlucky for me, I do. Once everyone was quiet, he walked back and took his seat while a woman stood in front of the microphone. Her face was attractive, but her breasts bulged out of her blouse. She looked drunk, but she kept her stern, intimidating look. Besides her disproportionate appearance, she seemed a little interesting.

"Welcome to Konoha High. My name is Tsunade and I will be your principal until the end of your senior year."

The assembly starts.

THE LIES IN THE BOOKS:

1. We are always here to help you.

2. You will have time to get to your classes before the bell.

3. The dress code will be put into effect.

4. Smoking will not be tolerated.

5. Your locker combination should be kept private.

6. Guidance Counselors our here for your need.

7. We'll make the best out of these years.

Who do they think they're fooling? Let's leave that as a no comment. My first class is Language Arts, the subject I hate most. We have to go through eight suffering periods each weekday. It's only 9:00 in the morning and I'm already complaining. As I walked the hallways, I looked at the rusty, trashed lockers. Do they expect us to use these? The locks were broken, the doors were torn, and the insides were filled with mold. The hallway was quiet. Everyone was inside his or her classrooms. I was alone. I am not lost. I am not lo-

"Hey, you!" The man from the assembly yelled out, "Why are you wandering around the halls, young lady?"

I looked at the tag pinned to his blouse. "Iruka-sensei, I-I was lost and I-"

"What an excuse!" He blurted out as he took a notepad and a pen from his pocket. "What's your name, miss?"

I didn't respond. My mouth felt too dry to speak.

"Excuse me? I asked you for your name," Iruka stated, "Do you want to make that two demerits?!"

"Haruno Sakura."

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**Yay! First Chapter. If it looks short, just tell me.**

**I want to hear some comments about it. If you don't like it, you don't have to.**

**Sharpie-chan, I hope you like it:D**


	2. School: The Worst Place to Cry

**Woot! Second Chapter is up.**

**I'm so happy for getting 7 reviews on the first chapter. :D**

**Your comments made me glad and have high self-esteem.**

**Please review on this chapter. Thanks.**

**- Serenity-chan/Cherry**

* * *

TEACHERS, FRIENDS, AND ENEMIES

Looking at my English teacher makes me wonder about a lot of things. She looks the girl from _The Ring. _I can't see her face. Her hair is tangled, uncombed, and sways down her chest. She isn't married. _Go figure. _Plus, she has a tendency to wear crimson, red colors. I guess it's because of her name, Kurenai. People would call her 'Hairwoman', but I like to keep her name simple. Maybe when I grow up, I'll become someone like her. No life. No grace. Heh, I'd rather be like our drunken principal.

"Take a seat everyone," Kurenai begins to speak. She takes out her attendance sheet, "A-Aburame Shino?" She shutters while she speaks, reminding me of Hinata.

"Here." A guy from the backseat spoke. His face was hidden in his dark hood and his black sunglasses gave intimidation. He looked ghetto. I would laugh, but I forbid myself to. I can't show happiness. There's no explanation. I just can't.

She goes through the list in a random order. "Haruno Sakura?"

Everyone turns to look in my direction. I gulped some air in. "Here." I mumbled softly. They all turn to their friends and whisper in each other's ears. I can't hear what they're saying. That's a good thing for the most part. _Ignorance is bliss._

Her finger lingers to the bottom of the list. "Yamanaka Ino?"

Ino stood up. "Ino_ichi_," she affirmed. Inoichi means life. She needs one. I guess she didn't like the meaning of her old name, _pig. _Kurenai nodded and checked her off the list. Ino-pig sits back down and glances at me. I wonder what she's thinking. Her thoughts matter the most to me. This period is taking to long. This better end soon.

The bell rings 30 minutes after, as the students rushed out of the classroom. At the door, Ino pushed my back causing my books to fall off. No one bothered to help me. They stared, laughed, and kicked my books farther from my distance. I bent down to pick them up. It took me six minutes to gather my belongings and go straight to my next class.

Biology is with Asuma-sensei. He seems cool and could pass for one of those favorite teachers. I walk inside the classroom late. Asuma smiles while I closed the door behind me. He smells like tobacco. I guess he's a smoker. I look around the room. There was a used cigarette on the teacher's desk, making my opinion right. Another glance and I see Karin by the front row. She notices me and waves. I force a smile.

"Hello. And you are…" Asuma paused and looked through his sheet, "Haruno Sakura?"

I nodded, ignoring the glares and voices.

"Good, good." He replied, "Your lab-partner is Uzumaki Naruto."

_Him? I'm partnered with him? _I thought to myself. I looked around to see his crazy, blonde hair and those carefree, blue orbs I've seen from last year. That was him, over by the second row. Something seemed different about him. His expression looked serious, as he carefully took notes on the board. What happened to him? Did aliens abducted everyone normal and replaced them with super-mega nerds?

Naruto Uzumaki. He was the number one, knuckle-headed, ramen-obsessed fool at school. He was our fun loving troublemaker who would always make us laugh both, intentionally and unintentionally. Our group would always gossip about how weird he was and how he tried to flirt with every girl in campus. He flirted with me the most. Of course, I got angry, annoyed, and just a little bit over my head. No one really liked him at our old school. It kept me wondering why. Did he have a secret too?

I sat on the chair next to him and placed my books on the side, waiting for his response.

"Hmm…? Oh, Sakura-chan." Naruto turned to see me. "Hey."

"Hi." I mumbled softly. It was as if he didn't remember what had happened during that summer, last year. I'm glad I still had a friend who didn't care or know about the incident. – Wait. Was he considered a friend of mine? We weren't close, but we were paired up in a lot of things from the past, even now as lab partners. I felt uncomfortable near him. My stomach was bubbling up faster, the closer I moved. Maybe I'm just hungry.

Next class, I was lucky to get here early. Carefully, I sat on a vacant seat on the third row. Iruka-sensei, the guy who gave me my first demerit on the first day of school, walked up to my direction and grunted. He was ugly. I mean, what's up with that scar across his face? He looked like a disturbed dolphin. I shall call him Dolphin-man from now on.

Dolphin-man bent down put his finger on my forehead, "Haruno Sakura, eh? I've got my eye on you."

I coughed, covering my mouth, from his bad breath. He kept glaring as he walked backwards, towards his desk. Welcome to History. Let's erase mine, shall we? So far, I have no classes with Tenten, no classes with Hinata, and one, drowning, hell of a class with Ino_ichi_. People that knew me from last year, never bothered to say hi, or wave when I try waving at them. High school sucks. No questions asked.

Karin wasn't here. _Thank god._ I thought. Naruto was at the front corner, writing something in his notebook. There was no notes on the board, so I wonder what he's writing. Ino wasn't here either. Part of me wishes she was. The other part was still mad for the hallway incident. Dolphin-man walks out of the room for a moment. I sighed in short relief.

"Hey pinky-head," Some girl behind me said.

I turned around to look at her. "…" Nothing came out.

"Bitch." She whispered with a devilish smirk on her face. The people around her couldn't restrain from laughing.

Some kid in the back raised his middle finger in front of my face. "Asshole." He yelled. A couple of kids high-fived him.

My mind was spinning. I couldn't think properly. I turned back and closed my ears to block the curses from coming through. Now, I really wanted to cry. I wish they knew what happened. This class was too intense. It was just too much for me to handle. Restraining my tears, I began writing my homework in my agenda to keep myself occupied.

"_Hey, are you okay?" This strange, blonde girl bent down and asked._

_I looked up, wiping my tears. "N-No…" I choked._

"_Why are you crying?" The girl asked, moving my bangs to view my forehead. "Wow! You have a wide forehead."_

_I cried some more._

"_Shh! There's no need to cry. Just because it's wide, doesn't mean it's ugly. Look at yourself in the mirror. You're cute, okay? Don't be so down."_

_I nodded, thankfully and brushed my bangs apart._

"_It's good to cry, though," She said smiling, "It's unhealthy for your body to keep everything bottled up. As I say; use what Mother Nature gave you before Father Time takes it away."_

_I giggled, choking away my tears._

_She grinned and stood up. "My name is Ino. What's yours?"_

"_Sakura."_

"_Well then, Sakura. Meet me here tomorrow, and I'll give you a little surprise."_

_I smiled and nodded while the girl walked away._

"_Thank-you…Ino-chan."_

Saved by the bell, I quickly got my books and rushed outside of the classroom. I followed a bunch of fourth period lunch students to the cafeteria. It smelled like spoiled milk, and it looked disgusting. The lunch ladies lazily served the students like they didn't want to be here. I share their pain.

I took a tray and got on the lunch line. Today's special was pasta with meat sauce. I got a bowl of dead, cooked noodles and gave my money to the cashier lady. She yelled at me for not unfolding my dollar. I don't respond. Working as a lunch lady is sad. I don't intend on becoming one. As a used-to-be nerd in middle school, I worked my way up to the top as the smartest female student in 8th grade. A doctor was what I wanted to become. Do I still think that way now?

I got out of the line and looked for a place to sit. There was no table that would accept me. My eyes turned to Karin, who is reading one of those teen books. Her outfit seemed strange; a white blouse and a black mini skirt. Who wears that on the first day of school? Maybe I should sit with her. She was nice to me for the most part.

I stood in the middle of the lunchroom, thinking of what I should. It was decided that I would with Karin when, WHAM! A bowl of pasta had hit my shirt. The guy, guilty for hitting me, apologized and said he was aiming at his friend. Of course, it was a complete lie since everyone at his table and in the room kept laughing. I ran out the door, dumping my lunch in the trashcan.

Inside the bathroom, I tried rinsing my shirt with warm water. Ino_ichi _came in, took out her makeup kit, and applied blush on her cheeks.

"Hey," I said, trying to start a conversation.

"Hmn…" She replied, adding more blush. Her cheeks were now a sun kissed red, while mine seemed pale and dull.

"How's it going?" I could feel the weakness inside my own voice.

"Mmm…"

I bit my lip, turning of the faucet. Should I tell her? Would she listen? I brought myself to it:

"Hey, um, Ino-chan. I have to tell you-"

I was interrupted by some girly prep that walked out of one of the stalls.

"Let's go." Ino muttered, staring back at me.

The girl nods, as they both head out for the door. I was left alone with a wet shirt. The mirror must be broken. It's reflecting a girl who messed up her own life, who messed up everything. I closed my eyes then opened them. It's the same the girl. Ugly and pitiful. I'm starting to regret ever cutting my hair.

"_Ino-chan, why are you giving me this ribbon?" I asked curiously._

"_Silly, it's for your hair," She stated. "To keep your bangs up."_

_I got worried and said, "B-But, my forehead! I don't want people making fun of me." _

"_Sakura, you think too much," Ino confirmed, "Just relax. You keep hiding your face with your bangs, they wouldn't even be able to see your pretty face."_

"_But-!"_

"_-No buts. You look pretty. Any boy would want you if you just put your hair up. Trust me on this," She reassured, tying the ribbon onto my head. "See? You look so adorable!" She beamed. "I bet they'll like it too."_

_I sighed and gave a diminutive smile. "You promise?"_

"_I promise."_

Next class: Art. This better be interesting.

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**Finale of chapter two!** **I'm afraid it's a little short.**

**I hope you like it. Sorry if it took me long to post this.**

**School is messed, as always, which is one of the reasons why I'm writing this.**

**Thank-you Sharpie-chan for supporting me!**


	3. My Apologies

**My Apologies**

Dear All Readers,

It seems that I have not been updating this fanfic for more than two months now. You might be going, 'Geez, that's long!' and I don't blame you. I bet all of you were in high expectations for the next chapter - Especially for those who I have not spoken to personally or know as a friend. To you, this story was just another let down, a throw away, ect. My motivation for this was to share Laurie Halse Anderson's story into something different, unique, and my own. For those who loved the first two chapters and waited for the third -which hasn't shown up-, I am sorry to keep you waiting.

Do you think I gave up writing _Sakura Speaks_?

Think again.

Be sure to wait for the third chapter of this story, and don't forget to review. And again, I'm terribly sorry for the delay of the next chapter. School and vacation got in the way -as usual-, and I just wasn't keeping up. I just finished my midterm, which I'm pretty sure I failed. But as long as that's over, I think I have some extra time on my hands. Thank you for your kind patience.

Sincerely,

_- S e r e n i t y_


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